LET IT BE

I agree, Let it be…

I read somewhere that there are only 4
words common to all languages: Amen, Alleluia, OK, and Coca-Cola.

Listen to someone pray in German,
Korean, French, Portuguese or Spanish, and they’ll end their prayer with
“Amen.”

But what does it mean?

Some treat it a bit like pressing the

“send” button on an email.

Some preachers say can I get an “amen
for that?” – perhaps that makes them sound a bit insecure.

Perhaps the best way of describing the
meaning of Amen is by saying

“amen = I’m in”

Amen is a word that is mostly
un-translated in our Bibles.

NT
writers used Greek letters to form the (transliterated) Hebrew word, amhn.

Jewish scholars believe the word “Amen”
is also an acrostic, an arrangement of letters to spell out the Hebrew phrase,
“El Melech Ne’eman”: “the Lord is a trustworthy King.”

Amen says – we trust you God; we agree
with you; this is truth.

The use of this word began in the Old
Testament; the Hebrew means, “to confirm or to make firm”. It carries the
weight of approval, support, acknowledgment and affirmation. Amen conveys
firmness and certainty.

In II Kings “Amen” is used
architecturally, to describe the supporting pillars of the Jewish Temple.

“Amen” implies faithfulness. It is
related to the Hebrew word "Emunah" which means faith or belief.

When God’s Law was read aloud to
Israel, the priests would conclude at the end of the reading: “All the people
shall say: ‘Amen’.” (Deut 27).

To say “Amen” is to give our
endorsement to the decrees and acts of God. We could even translate “Amen” as
“Yes”. By saying “Amen” we are stating that God’s decrees are established and
sure. We concur with what God has said and we open ourselves up to cooperating
in seeing God’s will done here on earth as it is in heaven.

Let it be so for me- ‘amen – I’m
in’

So before we end our prayer we might
think carefully if we actually agree with what is being prayed. In these and
other ways we may find we become the answer to the prayer itself.